First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 1,000 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 59.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 173,194 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,273 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc increased its position in Alphabet by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 44,559 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,904,000 after purchasing an additional 7,831 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 7,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP increased its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 174,856 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,018,000 after purchasing an additional 2,396 shares during the period. Finally, Antonelli Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Antonelli Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,157 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,398,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $244.64 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $227.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $256.70. The company has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total value of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,258.92. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This trade represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 276,338 shares of company stock worth $59,062,683 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Lake Street Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.00.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.